


Wolves and a Prince

by orphan_account



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders Angst, Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders-centric, Delusions, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Eventual Fluff, Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, Mild Gore, Minor Violence, Multi, Non-Graphic Violence, Not Actually Unrequited Love, Pining, Swearing, Sympathetic Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders, Sympathetic Dark Sides (Sanders Sides), Sympathetic Deceit | Janus Sanders, The Imagination Room (Sanders Sides), Unrequited Love, dlamp - Freeform, like an ooc amount of swearing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-25
Updated: 2020-08-25
Packaged: 2021-03-06 23:07:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,064
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26106925
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: After the confrontation in Putting Others First, Roman knows he has to do better. He resigns himself to the Imagination, intent on becoming a better hero for Thomas.At least, that was the plan. When things start going wrong in his kingdom- when certain people start popping up- Roman has to accept that he's become the true villain. Hasn't he?
Relationships: Anxiety | Virgil Sanders/Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders, Anxiety | Virgil/Creativity | Roman/Deceit | Janus/Logic | Logan/Morality | Patton (Sanders Sides), Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders & Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders, Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders & Thomas Sanders, Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders/Deceit | Janus Sanders, Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders/Logic | Logan Sanders, Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders/Morality | Patton Sanders, DLAMP
Comments: 23
Kudos: 145





	Wolves and a Prince

**Author's Note:**

> Did somebody order Roman angst? No? Well too bad, and have a serving of DLAMP pining along with it.

**1\. Patton**

Roman grunted in pain. That dastardly drag of a Dragon Witch had clawed him! It was his own fault really- he’d gotten distracted. He’d made a mistake. The Prince knew he couldn’t make mistakes, not in a situation like this.

He internally cursed as he saw a shadow moving swiftly to his left. He’d gotten lost in thought again. Roman drew his sword and jumped, barely managing to clear the space where the witch’s claw was about to give him a tour of his own intestines. He twisted as he landed, instantly lunging forwards. He barely managed to stab his sword into the soft spot at the base of the dragon’s tail, but her howl of anguish told him enough.

“That’s-” Roman put his hands on his knees, gasping for air, “That’s right, foul beast. Serves you well for trying to intrude on this-” Gosh, his head was pounding, why did he always try to monologue right after being stabbed? “Peaceful village. Go and tend to your wounds, but I… will… be more than a match for your pitiful plots next time…” Roman trailed off, as he realized the reptile had already flown away. He knew the witch had gone easy on him, but that didn’t stop him from wanting her to at least act like he’d achieved something.

Roman was at least supposed to be a hero here. He was even failing at that now, it seemed.

The Prince was startled out of his sulking- no, heroic brooding- when warm hands landed on his shoulders. He looked up, expecting to see a grateful village-dweller, but was instead met with Patton’s worried smile.

“Hey, kiddo, you okay? That witch really did a number on ya, huh. Pretty clawsome fight!”

“Yeah padre, it was. Could you-” Roman grunted as he tried to stand up straight, and Patton gasped.

“Oh, you’re really hurt! I’m so sorry, I was dist-dragon-ed by that epic showdown!”

“Don’t worry, it’s fine.” Roman’s words contrasted by the embarrassingly high-pitched yelp that escaped, and he grinned sheepishly at the father figure. “At least, I’m still looking fine. My ribs aren’t.”

“Now, now, I’m gonna help you out here whether you like it or not. I’m kind of winging it here, so let me know if I do anything painful! Fang-ful…” Patton’s voice drifted in and out of Roman’s mind, as the moral side hastily summoned a first aid kit.

“Pat, you’re stress-punning.”

“I don’t stress-pun! I’m just fired up!” Roman raised an eyebrow. “Okay, so maybe I stress-pun. But we gotta focus on you not bleeding out now, kiddo. It would make your ol’ pa even more stressed if you had to discorporate! I love you too much for that.”

Roman couldn’t meet the other side’s eyes. “Really? After everything that happened? I was a bitch, I know I was, I shouldn’t have said that to snake-face. I’m really sorry.”

“It’s fine. Really.” Patton finished wrapping the gauze, and enveloped Roman in a soft embrace. “I’ll still love you no matter what, and I’m not the one you need to apologize to. Besides, you both said some bad things. Also-” He pulled back, grinned widely, and booped the Prince right on the nose. “Language.”

“Cuál?”

Patton scrunched up his face in confusion. “Um, gracias? Por favor? Pantuflas?”

Roman laughed and picked Patton up slightly, before wincing and setting him down. He really shouldn’t forget about bruised ribs and deep gashes within two minutes, and yet there he was. “A for effort. Wait, how do you know the word for slippers?”

“It’s a long story, with a lot of details Virgil would be pretty mad at me for telling you. That was one strange game of poker… Anyway, that reminds me! Virge wanted me to ask you if you could join us for movie night. Just us three? We could make a night of it.”

Roman genuinely smiled, bright and wide. “Sure! Just let me choose a onesie, and I’ll be right” He snapped for emphasis- “there.” He reluctantly wriggled out of Patton’s arms, and was about to turn to leave, but paused. “Hey, Padre.”

“Yeah kiddo?”

Roman’s forehead wrinkled. “How did you get in here? Usually me or my brother has to give people permission to come into the Imagination, and last I checked you weren’t on the greatest of terms with the Dreadful Duke over there.”

Patton smiled sadly. “Well, I knew it couldn’t last.”

Roman turned, furrowing his eyebrows in confusion. “Wait, what does that mean? I’m not mad if you were talking to him, just confused and a tad grossed out, and- Pat? Padre?”

Where Patton had been standing, there was nothing but a cloud of red sparkling dust, drifting along in the breeze. The dust that Roman used to create. The dust that figments were made of.

Roman fell to his knees in the springy grass, and began to sob.

  
  


**2\. Logan**

Roman made sure to keep a watchful eye on the Imagination after that. It wouldn’t do to have figments constantly popping up unbidden, now would it? Especially if he didn’t know they were figments.

Maybe if he left the Imagination, he could talk to the real Patton… but no. The version he had met was just that- a fanciful, best case scenario. Because that’s what Roman was, wasn’t he? The perfect twin, the optimist, the dreamer.

Even dreamers knew how to wake up.

Roman let out something that was like a scream, but without the energy needed to make it anything more than a rasp. He’d tried to fight the Dragon Witch again earlier, but she’d turned him away. Pathetic! Even the most evil villain he’d created didn’t think him a worthy opponent. No wonder J-Deceit had managed to cut him so deep with just a sentence- he was weak. Always had been. Evidently he couldn’t even do being a egotistical self-centered maniac anymore, and somehow he missed that more than anything.

Despite closely examining each figment he came across, however, they all seemed completely under his control. What had happened with the Patton fake was… a mistake, and a worrying one, but wouldn't be repeated if he stepped up his game. This was why he was in the Imagination’s grand library- he wanted to learn everything he could about the world he and his twin had created. Nothing would get past him this time.

Roman was doing just that, buried in a tome detailing the different types of quests and rewards (he would have to fix that at some point; a hero doesn’t need a reward) when he heard Logan’s signature dress shoes clacking towards him. He smiled. Logan would love to learn about this place as well, and he’d probably bring a new perspective on his pesky little problem-

Wait. What if Logan was another one of those… figments? The one who had tricked him had also looked just like Patton. 

It couldn’t hurt to check. Roman stood, closing the heavy book with a very satisfying bang. He pointed at the faux-gan, and let his most regal voice boom throughout the library:

“State your method of entrance instantly, or I will vanquish you, foul fiend!” Roman kept his arm raised, and kept trying to look self assured and confident. It would be fine if this Logan was fake. He would be fine. He didn’t need the other’s reassurance.

Logan just raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms. “Remus let me in. How else would I be here?”

That made sense… but why would Logan be talking to Remus? “You asked him? And he let you, just like that?”

“He did in fact, let me in. As you can see. Though we’ve had many differences in the past, Remus seems to have an understanding of my need for seeking knowledge, which is why I am here.”

“Oh- alright.” Roman felt foolish. He let one figment get out of control, and suddenly he was threatening one of his closest friends! A hero should know better. He quickly bounced back when he remembered why he’d been so happy to see Logan in the first place, however. “Hey, Nerd-sula! Do you want to read with me? I’m trying to figure out how exactly the Imagination works, and deduction is like, your whole department!”

Logan stayed where he was standing, but Roman knew he’d piqued his interest. “Pleaaase? I can help you find whatever you need to, afterwards. This place doesn’t have any logical organization system, but I can find whatever books your looking for in a snap!” the Prince wheedled, and finally he could see Logan give in.

“Fine. I suppose that would be an interesting path to research. Though, shouldn’t you already know everything about the Imagination, seeing as it’s your realm?”

“See, you would think that. But as it turns out, having both me and Remus working in the same space, even far apart, means that things will just pop up. Like, if you had two different paints, except whenever they mixed they make a whole new color that neither of them could predict or control!”

“I don’t see what paint could have to do with any of this, but it’s quite intriguing nonetheless. What books do you have on the subject?”

They talked and worked for hours, piling up what must have been dozens of tomes about everything from neurology, to folklore, to subjects that only existed in the complex cultural and political landscape of the Imagination. Logan would go from scoffing at Roman’s suggestion that astrology could be involved, to racing across the entire library to grab a book whose title had caught his interest. Roman created detailed graphs and maps, and they ended up surrounded by tons of papers and various other creations that had very little to do with their original purpose.

“I missed doing this.” Roman was thoroughly tired out, but also happy, lying on the floor with a soft-back as a pillow. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Logan smile.

“I as well was disappointed to lose your company in research. Though you bring up many ridiculous points, you also have a perspective that…I could not even begin to comprehend.”

“That’s so sweet! I’ll start thinking that you really do love me, Specs.”

“Have I stated that I do not?”

Roman sat up in shock. He turned, ready to have a long conversation about what exactly that meant. “Lo- gan…” 

There was a heap of red dust accenting the pile of books.

This time, Roman didn’t cry. If a hurricane did destroy a large part of the library for several days, nobody needed to know that.

  
  


**3\. Virgil**

The Prince was getting paranoid. Ironic, in a sharp and bitter way. Every corner he turned, he thought he saw Patton’s glowing smile or the shine of Logan’s glasses. He wanted to talk to them, the real them, so badly his chest physically ached. It was to be expected that he would pine, being the embodiment of Romance, but this was just ridiculous. At least it was only the two of them. If he had to face any of his other… sides of interest, or worse- his brother, he would surely have broken down by now.

Not that he was very far from it, to be perfectly honest. Roman was curled up in his magnificent bedroom, the heart of his palace, watching his favorite movies on repeat- but even the soft crooning of Love Is An Open Door didn’t wipe the grimace from his face.

Patton would have joked that his face would get stuck like that, and rub a thumb across his forehead to smooth the wrinkles. Logan would have stated some random fact, so out of the blue that Roman would burst into laughter. He would pretend to be confused at the mirth, but Roman could always see the self-satisfied smirk. Logan prided himself on being able to get the others out of their moods. Virgil-

Virgil was standing at the far end of his room, dwarfed by the massive doorframe and accompanying windows.

Roman could feel cynical eyes raking over him, from the unbrushed hair to the wrinkled old pajamas. He was a mess. There was a good chance tear stains were still visible on his cheeks. Normally, he wouldn’t have dreamed of showing himself in front of anybody like this. But.

“You’re not real, are you?”

The Virgil shrugged, then smiled sadly. “Nah. But I’m not exactly fake either, am I?”

“How so?” On instinct, Roman ran a hand through his hair, then winced when it was blocked by a myriad of tangles. “You’re just some… figment, come to trick me. I know your moves by now.”

“Princey, princey, princey.” Virgil's rough voice was achingly familiar. “Why do you think we keep showing up? Nothing happens here if you don’t want it to. You made me. I’m as real as the Dragon Witch, and didn’t she give you a pretty nasty gash? Seems like a major symptom of reality to me.”

Roman lay his head back down onto the satiny pillow. “So my own pining is turning against me? Love that. Love that for myself.”

Virgil walked over and sat on the edge of his bed. He hunched his shoulders, and a part of Roman wanted to congratulate himself on how well he’d done on creating the other sides, consciously or not. This Virgil sounded so real, looked so real, he couldn’t bear the urge to reach out.

“I love you, you know that?”

For a second, Roman thought he’d accidentally spoken. But no, that was just the fake Virgil saying exactly what he’d wanted him to. What he’d made him to, because apparently Roman was a sick piece of trash who made puppets of his crushes that confessed their love to him every other sentence. “No you don’t, I just want you to. Virgil doesn’t actually love me. Neither does Patton, and neither does Logan! I can’t keep living in a pretend world!”

The Virgil met his eyes, and Roman felt the fight leave his body. He was tired, he was so tired. “I just want you all to go away.”

“No you don’t.” The Virgil smiled, and carded his fingers through Roman’s hair. He melted into it despite himself. “I wouldn’t still be here if you did.”

Something hot and wet was dripping from his nose. Tears, that was it. He was getting what he wanted, Virgil was there (and he knew he could have the others too. Patton, Logan. Janus). Everything he’d ever wanted was at his fingertips.

So Roman gave in. He didn’t create the others, he wasn’t that desperate- but when the Virgil lay down, holding him, he let himself be comforted. He let himself fall into the best sleep he’d had in weeks. Part of him forgot that this was fake, and just knew that a purple hoodie was hugging him, and a gravelly voice was whispering to him. Virgil was with him.

“I love you too.” Roman said into the night, and his voice bounced off the walls and around the room. 

When he woke up covered in red dust, he just stared at it numbly and turned over.

  
  


**4\. Remus**

“Fucking fight me!”

Creativity stomped his boot, ignoring how childish the movement was. “Get out here and fight me, you scale-faced bitch!” 

A long groan sounded from the cave in front of him. “Roman, you and I both know you aren’t fit for battle right now.”

“I don’t care! You’re my figment, you have to do what I tell you.”

One gargantuan emerald eye peered out through a gap in the rocks. “Actually, I have to do what you want me to do, not what you tell me to do. And as much as you’d like to pretend, you don’t actually want me to show you how much head wounds bleed. It’s a lot, by the way, and very bubbly. I’d show you sometime- except the whole you’re-way-out-of-commission-right-now thing.”

“I gave you one job, Witch. One job.” Roman was prepared to stalk away like a scorned toddler, but stopped in his tracks. Something was off about that. “Wait, that’s not a very Princely thing to say, is it? What you said, I mean.”

“What? I’m not a Prince. I’m a dragon who occasionally casts spells, you know this.” The Witch deflected, but Roman knew he’d hit on something.

“But still, I wouldn’t make a villain that would say that. I have far more refined tastes.”

“What are you implying, brother dearest? That I’ve been spending too much time with your favorite antagonist? Well, second favorite. I do hope nobody could take that spot from me!” Remus screeched out, as one of the largest rocks was slowly lifting, and from under it Remus sat up. Roman could see his crushed bones and mangled skin repairing themselves before his eyes. It wasn’t a very complete job.

“Remus.” Roman said bitterly. Why had his subconscious created his brother? Of all the people he wanted to be comforted by, the Duke was certainly not one of them. “Why are you here? I certainly don’t love you.” And damn, he must be losing his touch, because Remus looked almost hurt at that. His brother didn’t get hurt by words- or much of anything.

“Well geez, that was pretty cold, Ro-Bro. Thought you were supposed to be the hero, with loyalty to your family or some shit? I just wanted to have a nice civil spar to the death.” Remus said, pouting (probably. His nose was a few inches off-center, which made reading facial expressions rather difficult. Whatever expression it was, however, Roman wanted to wipe it off his face.

Without going into too much detail, that was about how Remus ended up pinned against the jagged rock, with a sword tip at his throat.

“Don’t”

“Don’t what?” Even at the edge of discorperation, his brother’s eerie smile sent shivers down Roman’s spine. “Did I strike a nerve, little brother? Did I give you a boo-boo, being insulted for the first time in your pretty little life?”

“Fucking, falsehood! Bullshit! Whatever!” Roman was almost yelling now, pushing his weapon further against Remus’ throat. “Just shut up!”

“Shut up? Do I have deja vu, or am I just high, because I feel like I’ve heard that one before.” Remus’ eyes rolled back into his head. One of them rolled out of his head, but Roman couldn’t find it in himself to care. He was falling apart more than Remus was, and they both knew it.

“You of all… you out of anybody should know that I’ve been insulted. Your existence is a fucking insult! I keep trying to be better, and you keep. Fucking. Coming. Back!” Roman screamed at the perfect replica of his brother. Would that get the message through to his twisted mind, to stop with this game of charades? He tried to push the blade through the fake Remus’ neck, but his hand shook so badly he dropped it.

His brother didn’t seem to notice that he hadn’t actually cut his head off, because it dropped to the floor in front of Roman and kept talking at him. “You can keep telling yourself that, little bro. But I’m just like you. We’re the same, whether you want to admit it or not.”

Roman curled up, burying his face in his knees. He mumbled something. From outside his fortress of cloth and dangling hair, he thought he heard a questioning noise.

“Could ya be a little clearer with that? I’d like insults to be delivered with nothing but perfect diction, so I know just how many toes I need to cut off, please.”

“I said, I would prefer the real you. At least he knows when enough is enough.” Roman said, while raising his head to look at the fake. He was crying for the third time in as many days, but he couldn’t find it in himself to care. Instead of his older brother in even more pieces, however, he saw the entire Duke in front of him. He was almost mirroring Roman’s position, though without the tears. He just seemed confused.

“Wait, are you high? The real me? Minced-Prince, we’ve been over this. I don’t hide anything. What you see is what you get!”

“You know what I mean.”

“I really don’t. I’m no Sherlock, I just want to fuck one.” Remus grinned at Roman’s disgusted look. “Just kidding! You can have the nerd all to yourself.”

“I could, couldn’t I. You know that. Or I do? It’s so hard to wrap my head around all of this.”

The Remus looked beyond bewildered. “Okay, what? We were about to have a bonding moment there, and what? Is this another one of those cutesy old-timey metaphors that I don’t understand?”

“Why do you keep denying it?” Roman was starting to get angry again. “The others all admitted it at this point. I was- I’m just too weak to send any of you away.”

“Okay, you know what? I’m leaving. I can’t deal with this. Come back when you’re ready to fight me like normal bitter rivals do, Ro.” Remus said, before silence rang out.

Roman curled up further, head completely between his knees. He finally had peace, but peace wasn’t what he wanted, and the ringing silence was louder and less familiar than any of his brother’s screams.

After several long minutes the Prince raised his head- and stared in horror, desperately searching for a single streak of red dust. The cave, however, was pristine.

  
  


**5\. Janus**

He saw them constantly. A phantom Patton would wake him up in the morning, shaking his shoulder gently. Logan would eat with him, rambling about nothing and everything. Virgil kept popping up when he least expected it, sitting on the counter or leaning against Roman’s shoulder. It hurt so much, because it almost felt like how it would if they actually loved him. Even Remus (who he was sure was a fake this time) would show up every few days, asking to go on quests together or fight. Even a puppet was a better brother than Roman had ever been.

He knew there was only one left. Roman wasn’t sure quite why it was taking so long for his mind to create Janus, seeing as he had been wanting to talk to the snake this entire time. For months, really- maybe even years.

Perhaps it was a mercy. Janus was the only side that he knew for certain couldn’t love him, because he’d said he did. And Janus was a liar. They could never get along, they were far too different.

His mind whispered that they’d gotten along just fine in the courtroom and onstage, but that must have simply been Janus’ manipulation.

Nevertheless, Roman prepared endlessly. He summoned imagined people to flirt with him so he wouldn’t get flustered, he practiced his arguments in the mirror so he wouldn’t come off as unhinged as he felt. He checked around every corner for the edge of a cape, a glinting gold eye. Even with all this, however, Roman couldn’t have possibly expected the way he finally found his villain.

He’d been trying to make himself feel better by creating the most beautiful sunset he could. None of the pretend sides were around, which was unexpected but welcome mercy- the shame whenever he saw one turned all his scenes dark and rainy. This one was set on a beach where the fine sand slipped through his bare toes, the palm trees made for an immaculate foreground, and gentle waves of heat against his face made him relax for the first time in a while. He gazed upwards, and smiled at the amazing contrasts of colors he’d painted across the sky, accented with quiet seabirds. Everything was well.

That’s when it all went wrong, of course. Not that it felt that way at first. Gloved hands wrapped around his shoulders, guiding him into a sitting position. He knew what was happening; but after all, it was only happening because he wanted it to. So he sank down, relishing in the softness he could lean back into.

“Hello, my Prince.” Roman could feel the fake-Janus’ smooth voice through his chest. God, how many times had he dreamed of this?

“Hey, Snake-Face. Fancy summoning you here.” His words were nothing more than a murmur, becoming even softer as the fake started gently massaging his shoulders. He leaned back into the dark mass of cloak behind him, and closed his eyes.

“It is quite unexpected. I thought I would be called much earlier, and for an argument or the like. This is much preferable, however.”  
  


“Called? I thought I created you all.”

“Everything you’ve ever thought of lives in the Imagination, darling. You’ve just never wanted to see us before. Not this badly.”

“I suppose.” Roman opened his eyes and tilted his chin up, seeing faux-Janus’ face for the first time. The sunset scene in front of them gave his scales a beautiful tint, more orange and yellow than brown and green. “So you’re all me, but also separate from me?”

“In a way. It’s difficult to explain. Just relax, sweet prince. You wouldn’t have brought me here if you didn’t want to.” Roman did. He’d been on edge and filled with shame for so long- he just wanted to relax. Janus started his massage again, and Roman melted even further. He was about to fall asleep (in his enemy’s lap, but still) when he felt it- a tug.

No. He couldn’t do this- he’d spent so long in his own world, he couldn’t face the others if they were real. No. Roman turned around fully and rested his head on Janus' shoulder, clinging tightly to him.

“They’re summoning me. Thomas… Thomas wants to see me. I can’t face them.”

“You don’t have to.” His voice was sickly sweet.

“Really?”

“No. You don’t have to leave, because you know you don’t want to leave.” Janus’ voice intermingled with several others. Moving his face from the snake’s shoulder, Roman saw the other fakes were popping up- and several of them. A crowd of Logans, Pattons, Remuses, Virgils, and Januses obscured his vision. The feeling of safety upon seeing the others quickly melted into confusion then terror, and Roman pushed the Janus he was hugging away, stumbling upright.

“N-no! Go away! I don’t want this.”

“You do, though.” The fake sides were pressing in closer- Roman tried to push through the crowd, but it was too thick. Why couldn’t he just summon something to get away? Why was nothing working? “You want all of us so badly, but you’re too weak to come to us. Pathetic. Insignificant.”

A Logan glared at him with stone cold eyes. “Idiot.”

A Patton pushed him away, tears streaming down it’s face. “Selfish!”

A Virgil looked… Virgil looked scared of him. “Monster.”

A Janus recoiled from his gaze, and hissed- “Cruel.”

A Remus came up behind him and whispered in his ear- “Traitor.”

“Stop it, stop it stop it!” Roman flailed blindly, trying to get away get away getaway awayawa-

“Roman!”

  
  


**6\. Roman**

Roman tried to open his eyes, but sleep pulled them inexorably down. He needed to get up, that was certain, but he couldn’t remember exactly why. Something important had happened, he wasn’t where he was supposed to be- Yes, things were off. Roman tried to change the time to night so he would need to worry about this wrongness in the morning.

It didn’t work. That was… odd, to say the least. Was the Imagination malfunctioning? Roman mustered the energy to sit up, and with no small amount of effort, opened his eyes.

Oh.

He wasn’t in his bedroom in the Imagination. If he didn’t know better, he would say he was in the commons, but why would he be? Roman furrowed his eyebrows, trying to recall-

_Oh._

Oh, this- this was very bad. The others must have managed to summon him during his breakdown in the Imagination, after being gone for weeks. Maybe they had even seen some of it. They would hate him now, and really, he wouldn’t blame them. He’d been so awful to each and every one, he didn’t deserve their sympathy; Especially not after creating those awful clones. He was shameful.

Speaking of the others, in fact, as Roman’s eyes adjusted to the bright light streaming in through the windows, he saw the figures draped around the room. Virgil was by the stairs in a position that just could not be comfortable, murmuring something incomprehensible in his sleep. Patton, Janus, and Remus were all sprawled across the couch in various states of tangled, Janus’ extra arms at some point becoming indistinguishable from Patton’s mere two. Logan was slumped on the floor next to the smaller couch that Roman lay on, like he’d been checking on him- not that that was possible.

And Thomas was there too. Roman felt his heart swell, before pushing it down. Was there a chance his center didn’t hate him? Of course not, but perhaps he would be tolerated. The others wouldn’t have camped out here just to insult him. Probably.

The Prince tried to squirm into a more presentable position, taking care not to wake Thomas. Unfortunately for him, however, he’d forgotten about the other side by his feet, and ended up kneeing Logan in the face. Shit, shit- no, it was too late now. Time to face the metaphorical music.

Logan squinted, the remnants of an uncomfortable sleep prominent on his face (which was not at all adorable), before his eyes widened. “Roman! You’re awake! By Newton I was- I mean, we were all quite concerned. Wha- mmph.” The rest of the logical side’s questioning was muffled under Roman’s hand.

He glanced around the room. In a small moment of mercy, nobody else had been woken up. Janus did shift in his sleep, muttering about Hegel and Kant, or something, but he seemed deep into whatever philosophical wet dream he was having. “Hey, Lo, let’s try not to wake the others up. Kay?”

Logan’s perplexion would usually be endearing, but right now it was just frustrating. “Why not? As I said, the others have been very worried. They would be glad for the information.” His voice was distorted through Roman’s hand and his own tiredness, but the meaning was clear.

“Just trust me here, Google Jive. I’d rather get some things stra- make some things clear with you.” Roman whispered.

Logan’s head tilted, but he seemed to buy it. “I suppose that is sensible. There likely won’t be much order when they are present, it would be prudent to figure things out now.” There was a pause. “Now that we are in agreement, would you kindly remove your hand from my mouth?”

Roman jerked back. “Right. Sorry.” He was not blushing, he was not. “Anyway- what happened? When you summoned me, I mean. How did all of this happen?” He gestured out at the five sleeping figures around the room.

Logan adjusted his glasses and sighed. “Yes, that. You were not exactly coherent when we summoned you, so Janus panicked, and forced you to silence yourself. You were clearly disoriented even further by that, so I…” The teacher glanced away. Was that guilt? “I put you to sleep.”

“What? You can do that?”

“Yes and no. Normally I simply calm people- well, sides- down, by allowing them to see things in a more logical light, but it seemed you were exhausted enough that without the panic, there was nothing to keep you awake. Patton didn’t want to disturb you after that, but Virgil didn’t want to leave you, so here we are.” 

That was… a lot. He struggled to find something to say, then settled on- “What about Remus? He can’t have wanted to stay here.”

“I cannot confirm or deny that, seeing as he didn’t exactly have the chance to make his position on the matter clear.” Logan smiled a little. “Virgil was convinced Remus did something to you, got angry when he said he didn’t, and forced him to stay.”

“And Remus interpreted that as ‘cuddle with Janus and Patton hours?’”

“Patton’s idea. According to him, and I quote,” Logan adjusted his glasses and cleared his throat softly, “Re-Re over here won’t dream of leaving if I give him my signature dad-cuddles! Jay should join too!”

“That… that sounds a lot like him, actually.”

“Thank you. But we’re getting off track. Did Remus trap you in the Imagination? Did the Dragon Witch? Your absence was quite irregular, it’s never been this long. The months without-”

“Wait wait wait.” Roman held a finger up, and Logan stopped talking with an indignant sniff. “Months? That can’t be right. I was only gone for three, maybe four weeks!”

“What?” Another voice entered the conversation. Looking over, he saw Thomas groggily rubbing at his eyes. “Roman, it’s been two months. Wait, Roman, you’re awa-!” Roman swore under his breath and shushed his center as loudly as he dared. “Alright, alright. But still! I’ve missed you so much!”

Creativity fought at the warmth in his chest, but he couldn’t hold back the soft smile. “Thank you, Thomas. Believe me when I say I didn't mean to be so long, especially after all that happened before my departure. Speaking of which, what’s been happening over here?”

“Honestly? Not much. We all avoided each other for the first couple weeks, and then we got distracted by not knowing where you were.” Logan sounded a bit sheepish. “Ahem- Real talk,” Thomas gave a non-subtle double thumbs up in the background- “We haven’t really worked through anything while you’ve been gone.”

“Not for lack of trying, I’ll have you know.” A smooth voice cut in, and Roman almost summoned his katana in surprise. He’d forgotten the part where he’d actually have to talk to Janus and Patton and Remus. Logan and Thomas (and hopefully Virgil) were, for the most part, safe, but the other three were wild cards. “Patton has attempted to organize at least five movie nights in the past two weeks. I’d like to say we’ve all cooperated, but… you know how it is. In any case, how long have you been up?”

“Not long.” Roman forced a smile. “You didn’t miss anything, so-”

Logan furrowed his eyebrows and cut in. “Falsehood. We went over how you seem to believe you have been gone for only a few weeks, whereas it has actually been multiple months.”

Roman sent a wounded look. “Logan, I thought we agreed we would go over everything before telling the others!”

“Yes, but at the time I was not aware you were planning on misleading them. What purpose would that serve? Especially Janus, who, if my testing is correct, can sense lies.”

“You’ve been testing me?” Janus look bemused and groggy.

“I’m constantly testing all of you. It is very interesting to observe those so vastly different than me, and I-” Logan glanced around “That’s not relevant. What is relevant is that we should be waking everybody up now, since Roman seems intent on spreading lies of omission.”

“For the record, that sounds like bundles of fun.” Janus threw out. He started smiling at Roman, then visibly forced himself to look away. The Prince would be lying if he said that didn’t hurt.

Roman sighed. “If you insist. Virgil! Remus! Patton!” He announced, bringing up his arm. The three mentioned were all brought a foot above the place they were resting, then harshly dropped back down again.

“Ow, what the he-”

“I believe I can fucking flyyy-”

“Pops in the house!-” All three voices rang out at once, Remus’ with far more insufferably overdone vibrato than the other two. Each head popped up at the same time.

“Princey! When did you wake up?”

“Looks like Ro-Bro’s ready to join the emotional orgy!”

“Language, Virgil, and Remus it’s called an honest conversation. Wait, Roman!” Patton launched himself off the couch, making Janus and Remus grunt, and wrapped the creative side in a bear hug. “You’re awake! I’ve missed you so much, we have tons and tons of movie nights to catch up on-”

As much as Roman wanted to melt into Patton’s embrace and never leave- god, he was tired- he forced a regal smile and gently pried the moral side from him. “I’ve only been up few a little bit.” He saw Logan glare at him from the corner of his eye. “Okay, I’ve been awake for about fifteen minutes. I think. But Logan wanted to talk!”

“Don’t you try to blame this on me.”

“Of course not.” Roman said. It would have been far more convincing if he hadn’t been holding back giggles. He hadn’t realized how much he’d missed the teacher, how much he’d missed the real versions of all of them. Maybe not Remus. But maybe Remus, who knew?

Speaking of Remus, he was shaking. And rocking back and forth. His fingers drummed an incessant rhythm on the back of his skull, only interrupted by Janus taking his wrists. They had some sort of silent conversation, before Remus seemed to relent. His face was disturbingly calm as he turned to Roman.

“Nobody wants to say it, but it’s kinda my job to say the things nobody wants to say, so- whatever. I’ll just get to it- where were you? What took you so long?” The unspoken question- ‘ _What happened in that cave?_ ’.

“It… It’s complicated.” Roman saw the other’s faces fall, and rushed to compensate. “I mean, the Imagination was acting strangely, and I had to fix it, so it wouldn’t hurt Thomas! I should’ve checked back in, but I’m being honest when I say I had no idea it had been that long. Time blurs over there.”

Virgil and Logan nodded, but the rest turned to glance at Janus. The snake-like side looked contemplative, as if he’d just taken a bite of some undercooked meat and was considering the most polite way to spit it out into a napkin.

“You aren’t lying. Well, you seem to believe what you’re saying, and that is commendable. But you’re leaving something out. What happened with Remus? In the Dragon-Witch’s cave?”

Roman rubbed the back of his neck. “Ah. I was kind of hoping we wouldn’t bring that up, actually.”

Patton chimed in. “You can be open with us! We- well, I promise not to judge you.”

“Alright.” Roman muttered, but made no move to keep explaining. With a sigh, he turned to his center, and asked- “Thomas, I know this is an awkward time, but could you leave?”

“What? Why?”

“It’s just- this is very personal to me. It’s more of a side’s thing than a human thing, and I know that doesn’t make a lot of sense, but hear me out. Most of the stuff we talk about with you pertains to you- and that’s okay! We’re facets of your personality, after all. However, when you imagined us into being, you decided to make us more rounded individuals that was absolutely necessary. Hence, why we always mirror how you act when you’re relying more on one of us, but we also have different emotions that have nothing to do with you sometimes.”

Thomas blinked slowly, but he seemed to be processing the information. “Okay, so basically, it wouldn’t be good for me to get too involved with this, because…”

“Because you might start blaming yourself for how I feel, or actually taking on emotions that are supposed to be unique to me. I’m not explaining this very well, but please?”

Thomas looked doubtful, but he began to fade out of the mindscape. “If you’re sure, then I trust you to make the right call here.”

There was a tense silence after their center left, until Virgil’s rough voice broke it. “Alright, so that was kind of really ominous? You’re making it sound like something really bad happened in there, and I hate to be a broken record, but I am anxiety and all. Just panicking a little over here.”

Roman laughed weakly. “Yeah, sorry about that. But I do owe you all an explanation, don’t I? Rhetorical question, Lo.” For a second, Roman wanted to sink out then and there. Go back to the Imagination, where things weren’t good, but at least they were predictable. But- the faces around him looked so worried, and so kind, and his heart couldn’t resist the slightest chance that they wouldn’t hate him after all that had happened.

So he explained. Not everything- he didn’t mention that he was in love with four out of five of the sides involved- but he told them how much of a wreck he’d been after the episode. He told them how apparitions of the others had started appearing- Patton, then Logan, then Virgil, then Remus, then Janus. He told them how disgusting he’d felt, and thought he saw sympathy in Remus’ eyes. He told them how things had started to go wrong, just as they had summoned him.

After letting it all out, he buried his face in his knees and curled up on the couch. He couldn’t look at them. They thought he was awful, he’d exploited puppet versions of them, he was irredeemable-

A voice interrupted Roman’s train of thought. “Roman, would I be correct in stating that you couldn’t control how our apparitions showed up?”

He peeked through his legs, to see Janus kneeling by the couch. “I suppose so.” He said. “But I should have been able to, if I’d tried a little harder-”

“And,” Janus cut him off, “would I be correct in stating that you didn’t want them there? That it was a form of self-punishment? Don’t try to lie- I’m an expert in people not taking care of themselves.”

“Yes, you would.”

“So you have nothing to be ashamed of.” Janus seemed pleased with himself. Roman himself had to admit that he felt a bit comforted.

“But you do feel ashamed.” Patton murmured, taking Roman’s hand. “I can feel it.”

“Yeah, and you’re super anxious too. Didn’t we just have a heart-to-heart?” Virgil added.

“Roman, I’m sure I don’t need to reiterate that you can trust us with anything.” Logan’s gaze was soft. “Whatever it is, I will not feel any differently about you. Unless it’s something truly awful, of course.”

“Right.” So Patton and Virgil knew something was up? Wonderful. Roman tried to find anything else to focus on, and wait- what was Remus doing? “Remus? I don’t think you’re supposed to use books like that.”

His brother paused from tapping a dictionary on his skull to grin widely at Roman, but his eyes were oddly shiny. “I have to distract myself! See, what you’re feeling is super intrusive, and you want to get rid of it, so of course I’m going to see it! You know, you should just say that you’re in l- ah!” The darker Creativity slammed the book into his skull. “See, it’s hard not to let it slip out. I’ve never had to keep in a thought before, and it hurts a lot, and can JanJan do his thing now?”

The deceitful side strode across the room and twisted his arm. Remus’ hand immediately went over his mouth, but he visibly sagged in relief. Roman, despite himself, did the same. He shouldn’t be glad about his twin being silenced, he knew that, but he was about to reveal Roman’s most shameful secret!

His heart quickly dropped again as he saw Janus, Logan, and Virgil all working quickly with word association. “In l-” could only have a couple endings, could it?

Logan got to the answer first, and his eyes widened with shock. “Roman, do you- is there- Roman, whoever it is, I can assure you that feelings… of that nature, are nothing to be ashamed of.”

“What are you on abo- oh. I second what the teacher said.” Virgil’s face went pale.

Roman could see Patton and Janus realize at the exact same time, glancing at each other. They were blessedly silent.

Roman’s face burned. He was going to- he was going to have to say it, wasn’t he? Janus would know if he lied, and Remus would slip up at one point or another. And Roman did not want any of them finding this out from Remus’ colorful description.

“As you all seem to have deduced, I am- I’m in love, with, um.” He yelled at himself just to get the words out, but his jaw felt frozen.

“It’s Patton, isn’t it?” Virgil burst out, before ducking his head. “I mean, I’m sorry, but you guys have always been so close, and it’s just natural, because you’re both really awesome. I mean- yeah.”

“Well, I don’t know about that.” Patton’s face was a bright red. “Why don’t we just let Roman say it?”

The Prince finally managed to get his throat to work. “Well, it is Patton.” He cut the others off, as they began to speak (Janus’ confusion at the lie of omission was palpable) “...and Logan. And Virgil. And…” He curled even tighter. “Janus. It’s been for a long time, but I guess it got more intense lately? I’m sorry, I should have more self-control. Being in charge of romance and all that. I can leave-” He tried to continue, but found his own hand covering his mouth.

Janus looked pissed off. But strangely, not at Roman? “Apologies for cutting you off, except I feel no shame whatsoever. I can’t speak for any of the others, but I will personally slap you if you keep talking. Roman Sanders,” And he fell to his knee next to where Roman lay- it was very romantic, all things considered- “I would gladly be in a romantic relationship with you, if you would have me. What I’m trying to say is, I love you too.”

Hope was like the sun shining over a harsh mountain. “Really? How? I made fun of your name and scales and everything for so long!”

Janus rolled his eyes. “And I said I hated your outfit, and insulted your wordplay, and stole your sash that one time, and called you evil. We’re both bitches.”

“On the subject of bitches, I also like you. Both of you. Um, all of you.” Virgil’s voice was shaky, and his nails were getting chewed to a pulp.”

“Really? Because I-”

“Oh my fucking god, you all want to fuck each other, all five of you are somehow simultaeniously the last to know, I can’t watch this anymore.” Remus, having seemingly chewed through his hand, groaned out and then vanished.

“I must admit, I have a strong feeling of euphoria when in the presence of you all.”

“Oh my gosh! I love you too! I just thought it would never be the right time to say, but I’m so happy! Cuddle pile~” Patton sang, flopping onto the couch with Janus, Roman, and Logan. Virgil hesitantly joined.

It was awkward and clumsy at first, but eventually they found a position where everybody could rest comfortably. Roman was immersed in warmth and love, and he couldn’t help but think that this was what he’d been missing. Being loved back.

  
  


Of course, this story can’t end there. Roman knew that. That’s why he was standing outside a green door, trying to make himself knock. What if his brother hated him? What if he could never fix things? What if there was nothing he could do?

The door swung open anyway, cutting off Roman’s spiraling. It revealed Remus standing on the ceiling, making a chandelier of dildos. He called down, “Hey, Jan! Thought you were hanging with your boytoys today… you’re not Janus.”

“No, I’m not.” Roman agreed, smiling softly. “Rem, I know I haven’t been a great brother, but would you want to go to the Imagination with me? Maybe slaughter the Dragon Witch, or burn down a city?”

Remus looked incredulous, then hopeful, then overjoyed. He let out a loud whoop, and Roman couldn’t help but join in.

That quest was legendary. Roman took great satisfaction in the fact that there wasn’t a single entity there, imagined or real, other than his twin and himself.

And the bloody remains of the Dragon Witch, of course.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, if you got this far, thank you for reading! I'd be very happy if you'd kudos, or leave a comment, or yelled at me about a typo.


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